Fig. 4—Map of Fort Hill, Highland County, Ohio.
FORT HILL, HIGHLAND COUNTY, OHIO.
Surveyed by E. G. Squier & F. H. Davis, 1846.
SCALE 500 ft. to the inch.
Fort Ancient, perhaps the greatest prehistoric fortification in the United States, is permanently preserved as one of Ohio’s State Memorials. It consists of two principal divisions, known as the Old Fort and the New Fort, the two being connected by a narrow passageway enclosed within earthen walls.
Fort Hill, in Highland County, is not as large as Fort Ancient, but is finely preserved, very bold in outline, and most picturesquely located.
Other important Fortifications are Glenford Fort, in Perry County; Miami Fort, near the mouth of the Great Miami River; and Spruce Hill, in Ross County.
There is another type of earthwork, resembling somewhat the old forts, but which served a different purpose. We shall learn more of these in connection with Hopewell culture Mounds, to be described later.
In addition to the Mounds and Earthworks, the Mound-builders left behind them many burial grounds or cemeteries, and numerous village or town sites. Usually the two are found together, and often the burial mounds are near-by. In the village sites there may be found, usually beneath the plow line in cultivated fields, the remains of rude streets, house foundations, fireplaces, and countless numbers of relics lost or thrown aside by the residents of the site, centuries ago. From these relics a good idea of the people and their life may be gained through study. Some of the principal village-sites and cemeteries explored by the Ohio State Museum are the Baum and Gartner sites, in Ross County, and the Feurt village-site, in Scioto County. The largest of all the Ohio village sites is known as the Madisonville site, located near Cincinnati.
Fig. 5—The Great Serpent Mound, Adams County, Ohio.
Certain prehistoric remains of great interest are the Effigy Mounds, so-called because they were built in the effigy or image of birds and animals. The finest of these in Ohio is the Great Serpent Mound, of Adams County. Another interesting effigy mound is the Opossum Mound, near Granville, Ohio.